Chapter 8: Tower Defense
The four-eyed monster looked down at Izuku, its tongue hanging out slightly as it let out a primal cry. While the noise sent a cold wave pulsing through the green-haired teen, he did not back down.
"Tetsutetsu!" cried Izuku to his friend and classmate without taking his eyes from the threat in front of him. "Get out of here!"
Gritting his teeth, Midoriya used the skills he had learned from the Kendo Dojo to leap upward from the ground and kick his target right in the lower jaw. As he fell back towards the ground, the young hero spun his body around rapidly before landing on his feet. The four-eyed thing then tried to reach out and grab him only for Izuku to kick his hand away. Yet that was as far as he got as the dark, eyeless one backhanded the teen. Blood flew out of Izuku's mouth the moment contact was made, his ribs almost cracking from the blow. But before he could even process the full extent of the pain he was in, the Divine Divider found himself flying towards a wall of a nearby building at a dangerous speed.
"Horn Cannon!" came Pony's voice. Then, before Izuku could become a mere splat against the wall, a pair of horns rocketed toward him. Attaching themselves at his waist the horns turned to the side, narrowly avoiding the wall while slowing down the inertia. Now Izuku could see his friend and-
"PONY!" yelled Izukun in a state of pure panic. "BEHIND YOU!"
He watched as the blonde's eyes widened in confusion, not realizing that the bat-winged thing was now behind her. With hands raising above its brain-exposed head, it looked ready to deliver a crushing blow to the girl's skull. One that was stopped thanks to Shishida who tackled the monster as his size began to increase. With his increased mass, the even more beast-like teen pinned the bat-winged thing down while delivering blow after blow right into its face! Yet, even from this distance, Izuku could see that each of Shishida's punches were doing little, if anything, to hurt that monster.
Somehow, the bat creature was able to push Shishida off of him before grabbing him by the wrists and taking off. Thankfully, before it could get too far away, Itsuka had begun using the training from her mother's class to leap from wall to wall in the alleyway between the two buildings to get high into the air so that she was above her target. With an enlarged hand she made a chopping motion right into the monster's back while Pony launched more horns aimed at its wings. A cry of pain was finally heard as the two attacks hit at the same time causing the thing to drop its prey. As for Shishida, he shrank before he hit the ground while also curling himself into a ball in order to transfer his momentum.
Glancing over where the other two creatures were, Izuku saw that his class was trying to deal with the intruders. Shiozaki had extended her vines out, wrapping them around the two things so tightly that the thorns should have been digging into their flesh. At the same time Kamakiri, Rin, and Kaibara were striking at them close range with their quirks. Blades extended, Kamakiri seemed to leap between the two while sounding a little like Bakugo. However, he wasn't able to give them so much as a paper cut. And while Kaibara and Rin attacked with their own quirks neither of their strikes even did so much as dent the things. Even Tetsutetsu, who had stayed in the area, tried punching them to no avail. All the while, the hand villain just stood there scratching his cheek slightly.
"Well, this is boring," commented the villain lazily. "Nomu, you're all so high-leveled that these newbies can't even scratch you. Might as well be the main protagonist in one of those anime Sword Something animes. Guess none of you will need a boost. Just kill them already."
Before Izuku's mind could process what it had heard, the vines snapped as the two things now known as Nomu let out mighty roars while their arms swung in the air. Everyone there was knocked back skidding on the ground so hard that several of them left small trails of blood in their wake. Even the bat Nomu joined in, grabbing Shishida and Pony before flinging them over with the rest so that they could all be killed at once!
As for Itsuka, she had taken matters into her own hands. After activating her quirk to enlarge both of her hands, the orange-haired girl began smashing and digging into the buildings and streets ripping out large chunks. Beads of sweat appeared on her brow as she then began to punch into the rubble until they were smaller, regardless of the blood dripping from her hands. Then…
"Yanagi, give us cover!" yelled Kendo.
Izuku watched in amazement as the silver-haired girl's quirk activated, levitating and moving around all the debris that Kendo had just made. It spirals around the area until it became something like a wind storm that nearly blinded everyone there. Squinting, Izuku could see the hand villain raising his hands to protect himself. Then, before he could give out an order to his minions, Itsuka appeared in front of him with her fist still enlarged.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY CLASSMATES!" With that warcry uttered, Itsuka punched the hand man with all her might sending him against the wall right behind him! One of the Nomu then tried to swipe at her only for the Big Fist user to dodge it with a leap back into the mass of debris. Then, after a moment or two, it ended leaving the villain and his three Nomu standing in the middle of the street alone.
Slowly, the man stood on shaky legs and narrowed eyes filled with anger. His right hand began to twitch as if begging to be used. However, the villain ignored it as his eyes focused on where the U.A. students had been.
"Nomu," breathed the villain, pure hate dripping off his words. "Find them and kill them."
Meanwhile…
"Just what the heck were you thinking?!" The entirety of 1-B flinched when they heard that, Kendo's voice echoing around the mock office building they were all currently hiding in. As many of the students there did the best they could to patch up their injuries, their eyes constantly shifted to the fuming orange-haired girl. She stood in one of the corners of the room with her arms crossed against her chest looking down at Tetsutetsu. The Steel quirk user was currently on his knees, head downcast.
"Sorry I," began Tetsutetsu before pausing to gulp loudly as he looked up at the angry expression of Itsuka. "Look, when I heard them talking about killing people I just didn't…I thought I could take them down and-"
Itsuka let out a growl, gritting her teeth as she continued to stare at Tetsutetsu while giving off an angry big sister vibe. One that had nearly the entire class giving them space. All except for two who barely stepped forward with their hands up in a calming manner.
"Lady Kendo, please," said Shishida in a tone meant to bring a sense of calm. "I'm sure it was never Sir Tetsutetsu's intention to put anyone in harm's way. His actions were surely done with the goal of protecting the school."
"H-He's right Itsuka," added Izuku. "If he hadn't done that, those things would have just gone to the school to kill everyone."
Kendo gave her friend a look that nearly caused him to take a step back. However, after a moment, her features softened somewhat.
"I know that," she admitted before glancing over at the Steal Quirk user. "But it would have been smarter to try and sneak around to the school. They had no idea we were here. We could have easily told the teachers what just happened or warned the students. But now, we're stuck here. Hey, Hatsume. What're they doing now?"
The class turned to look over at Mei who was standing by the window with a grin still on her face. From what Izuku knew, her quirk let her zoom in on things like a pair of binoculars. If this wasn't a life-or-death situation, he would be asking her so many questions.
"Hehehe, you guys made him mad!" laughed the crazy Support Course student/ "Right now that handyman is stomping his foot like a kid throwing a temper tantrum while the rest of them are just breaking stuff. Must be looking for us."
That's when Tokage stepped forward, her arms missing as well as an eye.
"Yeah, and they're going to be looking for a while," said the Lizard-Tail Splitter. "I have a bunch of my pieces out there making noises to lead them away from us. Hopefully, we can distract them until a teacher comes looking for us."
"Excuse me Lady Tokage," began Shishida before clearing his throat. "But I was just wondering what will happen if said teacher runs into those brutes?"
Setsuna didn't say anything out loud. Not like she needed to as her face just seemed to scream the answer. A single teacher, even a former pro hero, might be able to handle one of those things. But all three? That might be a little much. And what if they tried to make a break for it and those monsters chased after them into the school?
Fear began to settle on the entire class. Izuku could see it all, even in Itsuka's face. He was scared too. The teen tried to calm himself, using Mr. Kendo's words to try and solve this problem. So that they could all get out of this situation alive. But no matter what he tried he just couldn't figure it out! He wasn't strong enough to use Divine Dividing on these monsters, not without his wings breaking due to the strain and falling on his ass again. Even if he did try to sap the strength of the same one he had divided before and it succeeded, that still left two that were pretty tough. Much stronger than any of his normal kicks could take care of. The only option he could see having even a chance at succeeding was to fly towards the school and find a teacher. But the odds that the Nomu, as the villain called them, spotting him were too great. If they did, they would surely follow him to the school and just begin the rampage they had planned on! At least like this they could keep the damage to a minimum. At least for a while. In the end, there was simply nothing he could…
Suddenly, the young hero's eyes widened as he turned to look at his classmates. Mr. Kendo was right! He had all the tools he needed, he just needed to figure it out. But he had also told the teen that his greatest obstacle was himself. The problem was that he was only thinking about what he could do by himself! Hadn't he written down his entire class's quirks? Wasn't he aware of all the skills they brought to the table? And what about the area? Couldn't he make use of it?
Bits and pieces of information began to swirl around in the green-haired teen's mind, slowly becoming puzzle pieces that came together. Even faster when he glanced around the room, reminding himself of his allies and their abilities. Slowly, he began to come to the conclusion that his plan could work.
'But, can I do my part in this plan?' thought Izuku as he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. 'When I used Divine Dividing on that Nomu, it was so strong that my wings shattered! If it does that again, not only will I be killed but so will everyone else. Wait, the wings only shatter when the strain of too much access energy becomes too great. So if I have a way to release that energy…I wasn't going at my full speed so if I can shift that energy to that then maybe…'
Izuku's eyes widened as he then turned to look at his classmates…only to realize that they were already staring at him. No doubt he had been muttering everything and had weirded them out. So the teen just gave a nervous laugh.
"I think I have an idea," he said aloud at last. "I won't pretend that it's perfect, but it might just stop those things. But it's going to take all of us to do it."
There was a brief moment of hesitation before the class gave Izuku their full attention. Since nobody else had any ideas, they were willing to at least hear him out. Seeing this, Midoriya nodded before turning to Mei.
"Hatsume, can you make the robots here extra dangerous?" he asked. "Like just go wild and make them a serious threat?"
The Support Student looked at him as if Christmas had come early, a bit of drool escaping her lips. But she quickly wiped it away before pulling out a wrench which then twirled in her hand.
"Give me five minutes and I'll see what I can do," she said before laughing, sending shivers down the spines of all the students.
-x-
"Where are they?!?" roared Shigaraki as he stomped his foot on the ground, his childish whining echoing down the streets while being carried off by the wind. In his mind, he knew what he should do: just walk through the gates at the other end of this area to enter the school and then have his Nomu slaughter everyone. Maybe even capture it on video for the public to watch. But if he did that then those brats might get away! Including that stupid NPC that punched him. The nerve of her! What had he done to deserve that?
Before Shigaraki could answer his own question sound of one of his Nomu crying out in pain caught his attention. Turning, he glanced over at the four-eyed one seeing its hands covering its eyes as it thrashed about. And above its head were…four floating fingers? Stupidly, the villain blinked at that before he was caught off guard again by the sounds of dozens of windows breaking. As glass rained down on the streets, the leader of the League of Villains looked up to see a number of green machines with twin tails using one of the metal legs to clear all the shards out of the window frame. Before he could even guess how many there were, he spotted several robots with the number 'one' painted on them racing towards them.
"Divide!" came a voice that was annoyingly familiar to Shigaraki. Before he could turn around, he saw a flash of light burst past him. Just briefly he was able to make out the kid in green before the noob rocketed down the street past the army of machines and out of sight.
That's when the streets became a warzone. From the windows, rubber bullets rained down upon them from all directions. Both ground Nomu let out cries of pain as they were struck protecting their master on instinct, shielding him from the shots that struck with so much force that they imbedded themselves into the pavement. As for the winged Nomu, it tried to fly up higher in an attempt to drive down and launch a counterattack. But as soon as it was up there, more of the tailed robots revealed themselves to be on the roof. They fired their projectiles at the winged one, forcing it back. But what was most shocking to the villain was how the eyeless Nomu was reacting! It trashed around more than the other two and showed signs that it was in far more pain than either of the other two Nomu. A sight that shocked the Shigaraki as this one was supposed to be the closest in power to the one that was killing All Might right now!
By this point, the robots with the number one painted on them had closed the distance to begin their attack. The black Nomu swung at them, but his attack was slower than before and lacked the same amount of force that it had when it sent that green-haired noob flying. Because of this, the machines were able to dodge the swipe before surrounding the Nomu, wrapping their metal arms around its body. Wait, shouldn't that have been easier for it to-
Shigaraki's thoughts were cut off as the robots exploded. The villain's ears began ringing in pain as he was flung backward, thankfully caught by the other two Nomu who were now trying to get their master out of the shower of bullets. Shigaraki let them, ignoring everything around him as he focused on his black bioweapon. There the eyeless brute stood there as he continued to be pelted, smoldering embers marking the outlines of the areas of missing skin! As the villain tried to process this, he was suddenly dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes when the Nomu spotted a couple of those brats down the street. They chased after them, leaving Shigaraki alone.
-x-
At the same time in an undisclosed location, Mei Hatsume was grinning like a mad woman as she continued her work. Her movements were like a blur as she went from robot to robot, opening up various panels to supercharge everything she could. Their speed, accuracy, removing all the safety limiters, and doing a few other things that might get her expelled from U.A. had the situation not been so dire.
"Fly my babies! Fly!," she cried out with insane laughter. "Make your mama proud!"
While this was going on Tetsutetsu stood behind her, standing guard in case the villains figured out where the machines were coming from. To fight them, giving Mei time to escape should it come to that. But all he could do was stand there in awe at her work, heart thumping harder.
-x-
Elsewhere, Pony and Kodai were racing down a route given to them by Mei. The pair went down dark corridors and flights of steps, going deeper and deeper underground. On occasion, they would pass by a robot that would wave its slender arms in the air as it told them that they shouldn't be there. But neither girl listened as they continued forward to complete their part of the plan.
Eventually, the two came upon a large steel door. Not bothering to stop, Pony began to fire her Horn Cannon. The American girl didn't care if she got in trouble for damaging school property or anything like that. Her friend, one of the first she made when coming to this country, had given her an important task. With everyone risking their lives, how could Pony live with herself if she didn't do her part? If she didn't give it her all?
Luckily her horns were stronger than the door, shredding it into nothing in a matter of moments before kicking its remains down. When the pair crossed the threshold, they found themselves standing on a steel catwalk with the head of the zero-point robot looking right at them.
-x-
Back with Izuku, the teen gritted his teeth as he sped around the faux city at an alarming speed. Up and down the streets he went, burning through all the stolen strength he had before rounding up from behind each of Nomu to steal more from them. Halving their strength again and again. But, despite everything he was doing there was a great deal of pain. The first time he had divided their strength the strain had been almost too much to bear despite all he was doing. He felt like he was being torn apart as tears swelled up in his eyes. And while the other passes after those first ones were easier to bare, the pain he felt still lingered.
But, it would all be worth it if his entire class made it out of this alive. Izuku had managed to spot them all luring the ground Nomu, keeping them on the move. Itsuka jumped and dodge out of the way of the creatures chasing her while Manga used his quirk to zap them with lightning or blow them away with an explosion. Rin pelted them with scales that were now sticking into their flesh while Shoda used his Twin Impact to deliver remote blows to them after striking them once. And when the Nomu flung whatever they could at the ground troop Tsuburaba would come to the rescue by creating a solid air barrier to block it.
Meanwhile, the winged Nomu had begun doing its best to chase after Izuku. Trying being the keep word as, even before Izuku had used Divine Dividing on it, he was the faster of the two by far. Now, after three uses, the Nomu looked like it was having trouble just staying airborne! With this villain weakened, Izuku began to take the offensive as he continued his part of the plan. He would zoom forward, leaving that thing in his metaphorical dust before circling around to strike at it from behind. A kick to the head, heel to shoulder, and a jab to its side. Over and over again, Izuku delivered blow after blow in between stealing more of their strength.
Then, as he made another pass, he saw them! Pony and Kodai! The pair were high in the air in the middle of the false city, the American girl standing on her horns to keep her in the air while holding her classmate bridal style. As for Kodai, she was carrying something in her arms tightly.
A grin appeared on Izuku's face as he looked down to see that the others were in place. The one, two, and three-pointer robots had helped the class herd the two Nomu below to this position. Both of them didn't look so good now, bruises and burns covering their bodies from all the attacks they had received. They were also slower now as they looked like it was nothing short of sheer willpower that was allowing them to drag their bodies toward their targets. As for their leader, he too was following them into the middle of an intersection.
'Better make sure the gang is all together,' thought Izuku as he prepared for his first ultimate move. One he had been thinking about since he had gotten his wings. He shot up high into the air, far above the bat-winged Nomu. Once he was high enough, the teen shot down feet first while spinning around.
"Heavenly Dragon Fang!" As he said this, Izuku's feet connected with the Nomu's back sending it hurtling toward the ground. The teen almost joined it as he quickly discovered the drawback to this move: it made him really dizzy. Thankfully he was able to right himself before crashing, doing his best to correct his vision as he watched the end result of their planning as it came to fruition.
Honenuki was the first to act, softening the ground so much that it became like quicksand for the three monsters. Once they had sunk all the way down to their hip, the lipless teen stopped applying his quirk before Awase went in. With a grin, the bandanna-wearing boy welded their bodies to the ground at the atomic level while Shiozaki sent out her vines to bind their bodies further. Once the welder had finished, Bondo began covering the entire area with his glue as the cherry on top.
Once that was done, every student on the ground made a mad dash as Kodai dropped what she was carrying. At first, it looked like a small robot action figure. That is until she brought her hands together to deactivate her quirk. In an instant, the object returned to its original size making its identity known to all: the massive zero-pointer!
All of the Nomu looked up at their impending doom along with the hand villain who had managed to leap over to the black creature. As if he thought he could pry it out from the trap it was now in.
"Wait," said the villain, eyes wide with shock. "Is that a giant robot? How can this school afford that?"
SMASH!
The zero-pointer struck the ground sending a massive shockwave along with a massive cloud of dust racing down every street. Buildings around it shook with so much force that those closest to it began to crumble or simply toppled over, the debris landing on the robot. The street now had massive cracks spiderwebbing their way through the area, causing the fire hydrants to erupt with water. Slowly, class 1-B approached the robot while silence filled the air. Even Mei watched from a window to check and see if the nightmare was finally over. Then-
"BOOST!" came the voice of the villain. "TRANSFER!"
Izuku, who was still in the air looking down at the carnage, widened his eyes when he heard that and even more so when a black fist erupted from the zero-pointer's shell. Another hand joined it, together slowly pulling apart the metal to make a wider opening. The Nomu then staggered out, parts of its body missing as it bled out. It only managed to take three or four steps before it fell on the ground never to rise again. Yet what Izuku saw next shook him to his core. The hand villain had jumped out of the hole with a new addition to his costume: a red gauntlet with a green gem embedded on the back of the wrist covered the man's right hand.
"I see," came Albion's voice. Though this time it wasn't in Izuku's head. "So you are here Ddraig." Izuku blinked as he lifted his left hand finding Albion's gem had appeared again.
"Albion? I-It is you," came a new voice. Izuku noticed that the green gem on the villain's gauntlet began to glow when the voice spoke,
Now the villain lifted his hand in annoyance.
"You know this scrub?" asked the villain as he held up his hand in annoyance, looking between the metallic surface and the flying teen.
"Indeed, we know each other well mortal," answered Albion. "After all, we are both the great dragons whose souls were used to create the Sacred Gears. And once more we have found each other to continue our-"
"Albion, please help me!" wailed the one Izuku had to assume was Ddraig. It almost sounded like he was crying! "This human host is horrible! He uses me to scratch himself and…and he's just so annoying! I miss Issei!"
"Would you shut your whining?!?" snapped the villain. "And who is this scrub?" Ddraig let out a sigh that made Izuku feel like he had done this more than once. At the same time, the Divine Divider began to glance around to see where the rest of his classmates were. They were still around, however they were tense while keeping their eyes glued on Izuku. No doubt they had seen the way he was hovering in the air, seeing this as well as his expression that told them that this wasn't over. Thankfully, no of them, not even Pony, Kodai, and Mei, were close enough to hear what was going on.
"I told you before of the other Heavenly Dragon," Ddraig said finally, clearly annoyed. "The one that is my opposite. While I double the strength of my user and can transfer that strength to others, Albion's power allows him to cut his opponent's power in half."
"What?!?" whined the hand villain. "That's not fair! You never told me there was another person with cheat code powers! I was supposed to be the only one! Me!"
"I did tell you Shigaraki," began Ddraig. "Many times in fact."
The man-child then began to scratch his neck violently, over and over again. Izuku flew back a little, unnerved by the strange behavior. Then, just when it looked like he might claw out his own neck, the Boosted Gear user slammed his palm on the zero-pointer. What happened next scared Izuku as the machine that had given him so much trouble turned to dust with the pale man standing in the middle of it.
"Guess I'll have to do some experience farming for a-" began Shigaraki until he was interrupted as a black liquid shot out of his mouth. He flailed about calling out to someone he called Master before the black substance completely covered him. And then, he was gone.
Chapter 9: Friends Both New and Old
With the villain having retreated and the danger passed, class 1-B wasted little time on dealing with the aftermath the best they knew how. Kendo had gone into the main building in order to contact the teachers. While she was gone, Izuku stayed with the rest of the class within the training area. The Divine Divider had them rope off the area with whatever material they had, which was mostly Shiozaki's hair, making sure that the bodies of the Nomu remained untouched. As for Mei, the Support Student just began to tinker with this and that. Almost like she was off in her own little world. Much to their relief, Vlad King wasted little time in returning back to the school. His face was almost as white as his hair when he had arrived only to grow paler when he saw the Nomu.
"There was one of those things at the USJ along with a large number of villains," he said, eyes fixed on the open-skulled corpse before him. "Before we even got there, that thing nearly killed Aizawa and gave All Might the hardest fight he's had in a while. All that while your classmates were terrorized by the small fries. To think they would have more of those things."
"Truly, God was watching over not only us but the rest of the school. We should give thanks," said Ibara as she clasped her hands together in porAs she said this, a light seemed to shine down on Ibara from above. Seeing how they were still out in the open with no spotlights above them, this naturally caught everyone's attention.
"Ok, please tell me you're all seeing what I'm seeing!" yelled Awase as he began to search the sky. "First Midoriya pulls out notebooks from out of nowhere and now this? What the God dam-"
The teen wisely cut himself off from finishing that sentence as the vine-haired girl gave him a death glare, tendrils of her hair rising up like snakes ready to strike. At the same time, Albion began to chuckle to himself.
'Hmm, I wonder what would happen if she were to learn the truth?' thought an amused Albion within Izuku's head.
Thankfully, before anything could escalate any further, Vlad King coughed into his fist to grab everyone's attention.
"I just want to let all of you know how proud I am of all of you," said the blood-themed hero, color slowly returning to his face. "Like Shiozaki said, you not only protected yourselves against a true threat but also saved the lives of many of the students here at U.A. All without anyone getting seriously hurt. Why, you even managed to protect a civilian while you were at it! I'll make sure to bring this up with Nezu to make sure you all receive some extra credit. Now, we were going to be picking class reps after today's lesson but with everything that has happened I think-"
"Sir Vlad," interrupted Shishida as he raised a furry hand. "Please forgive my interruption, yet I feel I must express the feelings of not only myself but the entire class when I say that we are ready to pick out class reps."
With that, Shishida as well as the rest of the class turned to look at Itsuka and Izuku as one. At first, Midoriya just looked behind him to see if there was someone standing behind him. But no, there was nobody there. Then it dawned on him that they were, indeed, suggesting that he and Itsuka become the class reps. As for Kendo, her face was scarlet as she waved her hands around.
"Wait, wait!" she said. "Hold on a second! Why us?"
Pony bounced a little as she moved towards the pair with wide eyes and an even wider smile.
"Because both of you were so cool!" exclaimed Pony as she bounced towards the pair with wide eyes that seemed to sparkle. While most of the class nodded in agreement, the horned girl continued. "Itsuka, you managed to come up with that plan to get us away from the villains that first time. Plus, you punched that guy while telling him to stay away from us! It was like having a cool big sis! And Izuku, he was the first to leap out to help Tetsutetsu! Not to mention his own plan. Big protective brother right there!"
"W-Well I just…just didn't want to…" stammered Izuku as he felt the heat rising towards his cheeks trying to brush aside what Pony was saying, but it was no use. For some reason, it was hard to argue with the American girl as she stood there smiling brightly at them. Even more so when she took both their hands in her own, jumping up and down excitedly as the rest of the class just commented that she had a point.
Within the next couple of minutes, Izuku became the new Vice-Rep of class 1-B. Honestly, he was pretty happy with the decision of his class. While it was embarrassing to hear them all thinking that he was more likely the smarter of the pair and had a stronger quirk, they all agreed that Kendo would be a better fit for Class Rep. Mainly due to the fact that she was the more confident one and they could all see Izuku turning to her for advice. Yeah, he could see that too.
Once that was done, Kan told everyone to head over to the nurse's office to get checked up before heading home. As his first duty as vice-rep, Izuku helped Kendo decide who should be at the front of the line before hanging out in the back. After all, it was their duty to make sure that everyone else was taken care of so he would be last. And, as he waited alongside Itsuka in a silence that was mostly comfortable, he noticed that many of the guys leaving the nurse's office were red-cheeked and walking as if in a daze. Ibara, on the other hand, left the room with sparkles in her eyes while her hands remained clasped together in prayer.
Then, finally, it was his turn.
After closing the door behind him, Izuku saw a lone figure in the room. Someone who wasn't Recovery Girl! It was a young woman who looked like she was in her early twenties or so, with long blonde hair and dressed like a nun. It wasn't until she looked up from her device, smiling at him warmly, that he finally recognized her. This was the Twilight Saint, a hero whose healing quirk had already saved the lives of countless people! Was she to be the school's new nurse?
"Hello there White Dragon Emperor," said the pro hero kindly.
And just like that, Izuku's blood turned to ice. He stared at the woman who just kept standing there with a warm and friendly smile as his own features were that of horror. She…Did she know about Albion? If that was true then she knew that he didn't have a quirk, that she had been lying to everyone! Was she going to tell Vlad King? Would she tell his entire class, the newspapers, the-
"Forgive my partner, he's a little shocked," came Albion's voice in the real world, the blue gem appearing on Izuku's left hand as it did so. "It is a pleasure to see you again Lady Asia Hyoudou. Though I wish the circumstances were different."
The nurse let out a light giggle before her smile dimmed slightly, becoming just a tiny bit sad.
"I wish the same thing Albion," she said.
Izuku blinked in confusion as he looked between the gem on his left hand and the school's new nurse.
"Wait," said the teen finally. "Do you two know each other?"
"Yes," said Asai as she looked from the teen standing before to the gem on the back of his hand. "Though it was a long time ago when we last saw each other."
"Indeed," agreed Albion, using the tone that Izuku had come to associate with him nodding. "The woman standing before you now was one of the many wives of the former Red Dragon Emperor: Issei Hyoudou. He fought with my previous partner Vali Lucifer."
"Oh, I guess that…WAIT! WIVES?!?" yelled Izuku, eyes bulging as he stared at the woman before him.
"Oh yes," replied Asai with a blush, a hand reaching up to cup a cheek while a dreamy look appeared in her eyes. "I married my Issei along with many other girls who became like my sisters."
"Yes, there has been no greater perverted wielder of the Booster Gear than Hyoudou," added Albion, this time using a tone that told Izuku that he was nodding in a more sagely fashion. "In fact, his love of women's breasts became so well known that he was often referred to as the Breast Dragon Emperor and the Grabbin' Dragon."
"He even had this special on television once where he sang a children's song about grabbing women's breasts," added Asai in a cheerful tone that caused Izuku's jaw to hit the floor. "Oh, not to mention this little stage play we did."
Izuku could only stand there, steam pouring out of his ears as he took all this in. It was so hard to process, not helped by the fact that the woman before him was telling him all this while having an almost angelic smile on her face. Then…
"Wait, if that villain had the Booster Gear, doesn't that mean that your husband…" began Izuku, suddenly realizing a horrible truth for this woman.
"Is dead," finished Asai, her smile vanishing as she nodded. "Yes. My Issei died nearly 200 years ago before the age of quirks began." As she spoke, Asia lowered her head in mourning. At the same time, Izuku's looked like his mind was going to fry at any moment. Did she say two hundred years ago? How was that possible?
"I-I'm sorry but that's a little hard to believe," admitted Izuku. "I mean, you look like you could easily pass for one of my upperclassmen or a young hero just starting out! Plus, if you were born in the time before quirks how would you be able to heal others?"
At that, an almost devilish smile appeared on Asia's face."The same way you are able to steal other people's strength: a Sacred Gear." As she said this, rings appeared on her hands. "Mine is called Twilight Healing, granting me the ability to heal. As for how I look this way…well…" Suddenly, bat-like wings sprung out from Asia's back. Wings that clashed greatly with her outfit. Wings that brought images of a- "I sort of got myself into a bit of trouble and was reincarnated as a devil!"
The only sound to come out of Izuku was a small squeak as his vision began to spin. The teen raised both his arms up as if ready to push the woman away if need be, hearing her giggle in a cute manner that did not sit well with him. After all, who in their right mind would not be freaked out by all of this? Weren't devils supposed to steal people's souls? The fact that she was making that noise sent alarm bells ringing in his head. So, gritting his teeth, he prepared himself for whatever trickery this woman might try.
"Relax partner, she means you no ill will," said Albion in an attempt to calm down Izuku's mental freakout. "Out of all of the former Red Dragon Emperor's harem, she was the kindest of them all. You shall never find a more gentle soul."
"Really?" asked Izuku cautiously.
"Yes," replied Albion. "Though I am surprised to see her here at this time. Tell me, Lady Asia, are you here now because you sensed the awakenings of both dragons? Are you here to witness our battle once more? Or are you hoping to save Ddraig from that villain?"
The Twilight Healer shook her head, her long golden hair flowing as she did so. "Regrettably, I didn't know that either of you had returned until this afternoon," she admitted. "I took this job in exchange for a favor from the school. The fact that we are all here at the same time is simply a coincidence."
"A favor?" asked Izuku with piqued interest.
"Yes," said Asai, her face becoming serious yet somewhat relieved. "You see, the granddaughter of one of my dearest friends, Gasper, got into some…messy trouble recently. Since her parents are, ah, not willing to help her the rest of us reached out to find some way of helping her that didn't involve turning her into a devil. Saving that as a last resort. Thankfully, U.A. was kind enough to offer a hand in exchange for various services."
Izuku blinked at that, wondering just what kind of person Asia was talking about.
-x-
"Hello everyone! I'm Himiko Toga and I'm a wanted criminal!"
The sight of a blonde girl, her hair in messy buns, greeted the class with a slightly unnerving smile that showed off her fangs. It was not something that Izuku or anyone in 1-B would have expected to see after the couple of days off they had after the attack on both the USJ and U.A. itself. And with that rather, ah, bold declaration they were all at a loss on how to respond.
Thankfully Vlad King had no such issue as he walked over to her before lightly swatting her head with a notebook. The girl reacted as though he had landed a much more powerful blow to her skull, rubbing her hair while backing away from the taller man. Then, the blood-themed hero turned to look at his students.
"Yes.," began Vlad in a serious tone. "As Miss Toga said, she is a criminal. However, U.A. has recently started up a new program to help certain troubled youths with extenuating circumstances. So, Miss Toga here was given a choice: either take her chances in court or become a student here and become a hero to make amends for her crime. I think it's clear which option she picked."
At that, the sound of palms being slammed on a desk echoed across the room as Awase stood up. "Whoa, hold on there!" the teen yelled with fury in his eyes. "How is this fair?! We all worked our butts off to get into U.A. and all she needed to do was commit a crime with a sob story waiting in the wings?!"
"He's right! This isn't right!" yelled Tetsutetsu as he threw a fist into the air.
Seeing the reaction of some of his more vocal students, as well as the looks of many of the others who silently agreed with them, Vlad King held up his hands.
"Ok, I understand where you are all coming from," began the pro hero. "However not everything is cut and dry. This is something that you will all have to learn in order to become proper heroes. Take Miss Toga here as an example. While she did commit a rather heinous crime, this was due to the fact that she had never received the proper quirk counseling. Instead, by her parents' own admission, she was taught quirk suppression. And, as I hope you are all beginning to guess when she was no longer able to do so it led to some disastrous results."
At that, the class became quiet as Toga began looking around as if confused. Everyone there, including Izuku, knew that quirks got more powerful with every generation. As did certain tendencies and behaviors that were associated with those quirks. That was part of the reason counseling was so important. So that people were not at the mercy of their quirks. That as well as making sure all that power didn't go to your head.
"The reason Miss Toga is in this class is because we both share blood-related quirks," continued Vlad once he saw he had everyone's attention. "Both myself and Hound Dog shall be working with her every day in order to help her live a more functional life with her quirk. As for her placement here, yes, she will be taking all the same coursework as the rest of you to become a pro hero one day. That said, she chose this course knowing full well the cost of failure. If she falls behind in her grades or does anything that will get her kicked out of the Hero Course, her expulsion and return to prison are all but assured."
For a moment, silence overtook the room before Ibara clasped her hands together in prayer.
"We were quick to judge," began the Christian girl. "Yes, Toga has sinned but she is seeking a path to redemption! Oh Lord, we give You thanks for this opportunity to do Your will!"
Everyone there stared at the vine-haired Christian as light shined down upon her. Albion let out a small chuckle within Izuku's mind, the green-haired teen believing he heard his partner muttering again about telling her something. As for Toga, she began to wildly rub her eyes in disbelief.
"Where is that light coming from?" asked the messy bun-haired girl.
"Thank you!" cried Awase who was now seated, throwing up hias hands as he spoke. "We've been wondering the same thing!"
Vlad Kind then cleared his throat again to get everyone's attention. "Now that we've got that out of the way does anyone have any questions? Midoriya?"
Izuku, who had been the first to raise his hand, quickly produced his notebook from seemingly out of nowhere before turning to a blank page.
"Yes!" began the Divine Divider as he picked up a mechanical pencil. "Ah, Toga. Vlad King said that you have a blood-related quirk. Could you tell us more about it?"
At that, Toga's smile fell a little. Before answering, she looked to her new homeroom teacher as if asking for permission which he granted with a nod. Once she saw this, the girl raised her hands up before pointing at her mouth.
"Ok!" she began in a cheerful tone. "My quirk allows me to transform into people whose blood I drank. Not only do I take on their appearance by also their voice! Oh, I also get the clothing they were wearing…somehow. But every time that happens it appears on top of whatever I'm wearing at the time so it's better if I'm naked before transforming."
Toga then slowly lowered her hands, feeling the gazes of the shocked class upon her. No doubt they were creeped out by what they had just heard. Who in their right mind wouldn't be after hearing-
"That's amazing!" cried Midoriya. Unable to control himself, Izuku moved from his seat so that he was right in front of Himiko. Said girl was a little startled by this, jumping back a bit as her new green-haired classmate looked at her with wide eyes that seemed to sparkle with excitement. "You're quirk is just so amazing! You could become one of the greatest spy heroes of all time! All you would need is a little blood and you could slip into the villain's ranks without anyone noticing. You could be in and out, collecting all the information that the heroes would need before storming in. And that's not even considering all the non-heroic work you could do once you get your license! You could become the world's best understudy, taking on the form of any actor or actress perfectly. Heck, they wouldn't even need to fit you for a spare costume. Voice acting work, modeling, maybe some medical applications, and…"
As Izuku continued to talk, he missed the widening eyes of the blood drinker as well as the blush that was tinting her cheeks while also becoming unable to close her mouth. As he went on and on, that blush moved to cover her entire cheeks until steam was coming out of her ears. Soon, her eyes became beating hearts as this random green-haired boy just continued to gush about her quirk. Seeing a part of herself as amazing that the rest of the world just backed away from in disgust.
Eventually, this ended when a frowning, red-faced Kendo stood up from her seat and silently walked behind Izuku. While giving Toga a look that said 'sorry about this, she then placed two hands on the back of her friend to begin pushing the still-rambling Izuku back to his seat.
As for the rest of the class, while most of them still harbored some concerns as to what she had done, the majority decided to give her a shot. After all, if the Vice-Rep of the class didn't have an issue with her then they didn't see why they should either.
Once that was done, Vlad King informed them of the upcoming Sports Festival.
After that, the school became a lot more interesting for the students of 1-B as they began to prepare for the upcoming event. For one thing, their class was getting a bit more attention from the rest of the school as many of them wanted to know more about the Nomu attack. This caused a good deal of embarrassment in the class, especially with Izuku, but they did their best to answer people's questions as best they could. After all, when they became pros they would be answering questions from civilians and reporters all the time so it would be good practice. In contrast, their sister class responded to the same curiosity in a less than humble demeanor. Bakugo just told people to get out of his way, that he didn't have time to talk to worthless extras like them. Then another blond from 1-A just began to brag about how superior their class was while a small child with purple balls on his head made innuendos at all the girls. And then there were people like Todoroki, son of the number two hero, who just walked past everyone without giving people a second glance. So it was understandable that most of the school began to dislike 1-A, thinking they were elitists.
As for classes, nearly every hero lesson where All Might wasn't involved became free quirk training. Everyone in 1-B was giving it their all including Himiko who had asked to train with Izuku, Itsuka, and Pony. She impressed everyone there with her agility and surprise tactics, even going toe to toe with Kendo using the wooden tantos that the school provided. What's more, Toga began to show Pony how to use her horns like blades for stabbing and cutting in order to make the horned girl a greater threat.
Though for reasons he didn't know, Toga usually had a blush whenever they sparred.
One day, a week before the Sports Festival, Izuku was walking past the various gyms the school had while being deep in thought. Since meeting the new nurse, Izuku had been full of questions on so many things that whenever he tried to get his thoughts down on paper he ended up going through an entire notebook. And today, Asia had told him of the previous Red Dragon Emperor had died.
"Like me, Issei had been reincarnated as a devil," the nun had said. "While he should have had a much longer life span, in order to gain more strength he did things that shortened his life span. So please Midoriya, do your best not to do the same. If you do, you will only end up hurting the many people you leave behind."
Those words refused to leave Izuku's mind, almost on an infinite loop. Before Albion showed up, he really only had his mother. She had been the only one to worry about him regularly. Now he had the Kendos, Pony, Vlad King, Toga, his entire class, and so many more people in his life. He'd do anything to protect them, but he didn't want to make them sad.
'The answer to that is easy partner,' said Albion within the teen's head. 'Become as strong as you can while here at this school. That way you won't have to do such risky things later on when other people's lives are on the line.'
"That's easier said than done," muttered Izuku. "What if more of those Nomu show up and I'm-"
Izuku's words were cut off as he heard a thud followed by a curse coming from one of the gyms. Thankfully done in a voice he didn't recognize. Curious the Divine Divider glanced inside to see someone he vaguely remembered walking down the halls. It was a boy around his age, with purple hair that seemed to stand up despite the amount of sweat running down his forehead as well as eyes that looked like he suffered from a lack of sleep. Midoriya watched as the teen got onto shaky legs, his breath coming out in heavy pants before he began to punch the air in front of him with all his might. After a moment…
"Need some help?" offered Izuku as he entered the gym.
The purple-haired teen jumped at the words before spinning around to look at Izuku who just walked in while scratching the back of his head.
"N-No," replied the other teen, clearly embarrassed at being seen like this. "I don't need your help."
Izuku just smiled at this as he continued to make his way toward the sweating teen. Without missing a beat, he began to explain a better way to throw a punch while also giving him a visual demonstration. Something that his new 'friend' watched in awe, even trying it out himself and gasping at how different it felt.
"Why are you helping me?" he asked once he had gone through the motions. "I'm not in your class. Heck, I'm not even in the Hero Course. I'm aiming to take one of your slots. So…why?"
"Because you just looked like you needed it," replied Izuku as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Which, to the Divine Divider, it was.
From there, the two exchanged backstories as they trained for the next hour or so. The teen, Hitoshi Shinso, spoke about how everyone thought he'd end up a villain with a quirk like brainwashing. At that, Izuku couldn't help but to relate how people saw him before his 'quirk' finally revealed itself. Something that shocked Shinso. But, what united the teens was that despite what they had gone through their entire lives was a single goal: to be a hero.
After all, you can't help what the heart longs for.